Whether your entire life is all set and planned out, you have an idea of where you want to go but are not too certain yet, or you have absolutely no idea what’s to do… every college student pursues a major and at the end of his/her four years graduates with a degree in that major. Majors can range from education, communications, engineering, music, philosophy, economics … the list goes on. College students have the pressure to get good grades, apply and succeed in jobs and internships, and make the most out of every moment of their college experience. Pressure they don’t need is pressure from peers on the college campus who find it necessary to demean your major and glorify theirs. What’s the point?

When we choose a major, we often choose something that we enjoy. The major we choose is either an interest of study that we’ve had for a long time, or the field in which we want to spend the rest of our lives. The major with which we begin in our freshman year of college is our pride, our motivation, and most importantly, our joy each and every day. Sure, work-loads can get overwhelming and the pressures to succeed in your field can overbear the joy we had to actually pursue our goals, however at the end of the day… we couldn’t see ourselves sharing in this learning opportunity in any other academic school.

Too often on the college campus do I hear, “well they’re a ___ major, so they don’t to worry” or, “well, I’m a ___ major, and unlike them, I actually have work to do. To those who feel as if your major is superior to another, and to those who feel as if your major is inferior to another… you are wrong. No major is more demanding, more involved, and most importantly, more important than the next. When we graduate after our four, five, six… (however many years it will take), each one of us will graduate with a degree. Some will have an elementary education degree, others will have a chemical engineering degree, others will have a trombone performance degree, and others will have a nursing degree. Yet what we tend to forget during our time in attaining our degrees is that it does not matter what our degree says, or what we are entitled to do when we have our degrees: it is what we actually do after college. You may be certified to work as a social worker, as a journalist, or a candidate for law school… however what comes after that?

We each have chosen our major in order to make an impact in our world. However we want to give back is unique and special to each and every one of us, and our God given talents help us to achieve our goals and successfully make this impact with the help of our degrees. When we graduate after our time in college, we each have an equal opportunity to give back to the world and to make a difference. Maybe you are going to do that by teaching a group of underprivileged children. Maybe you are going to do that by working on a hospital floor with patients who suffer from heart disease. Maybe you are going to do that by working on policy and advocating for marginalized citizens on Capitol Hill. Maybe you are not going to do anything yet… and you are still trying to see where you’re being called to. This is ALL okay… we need each and every person to work together in order to be successful.

Your college experience is what you make it. You can choose to take the back seat and skip class, never complete work on time, and take the back seat in your work. However you can also choose to work hard each and every day and barely give yourself time to sleep. You decide that for yourself… your major does not. Maybe your major is historically “easy”, and maybe your major is historically “challenging”. However no one can take away your dignity as a college student to work, your right to make the most out of your major, as well as your inspiration to succeed each and every day in your major.

You have just as much capacity to change the world as the person next to you does. Don’t let anyone take this away from you, and most importantly, don’t let anyone stop you from reaching your dreams.